Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn was airlifted to the hospital on Tuesday after she was involved in a crash at the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Austria.

The gold medalist was competing in the women's super-giant slalom event on the opening day of the contest in Schladming when she fell and flipped, before hurtling into a safety gate.

Medics raced to the scene and treated the sports star on the slopes for 12 minutes before she was airlifted to a nearby hospital by helicopter. Details of her condition had not been made public as WENN went to press.

The championships had already got off to a bad start after fog delayed the events due to poor visibility.